Due to strong economic activities in Europe, especially in Germany, and preferential treatment received by Pakistani exporters, Europe’s largest economy has become the largest market for Apparel factory in Pakistan . Germany has overtaken the United States and become the largest export market for Pakistan’s ready-made garments. Pakistan’s ready-made garment exports to Germany grew 8.65 per cent in fiscal ’18 against a growth of 2.84 per cent in the US market. Export earnings from the UK, the third highest export destination for Pakistan, increased by 11.76 per cent. Ready-made garment exports to the UK grew by 12.63 per cent. Export earnings from France grew by 5.94 per cent. Ready-made garment exports to the market grew by 4.94 per cent.
Export earnings from Spain in fiscal ’18 grew by 21.40 per cent. Readymade garment exports from Spain in the period were 21.24 per cent higher than earnings in the previous fiscal year. Export earnings from Poland grew by 20.53 per cent. Earnings from Poland by exporting readymade garment products grew by 20 per cent. In Asian markets, export earnings from China slumped by 26.80 per cent. Export earnings from Japan grew by 11.74 per cent. Readymade garment exports to the market grew by 13.73 per cent.
Over 220 brands, currently sourcing apparel products from the country, have already signed the 2018 Transition Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Pakistan. Over 180 global apparel brands have warned the Pakistan government that any premature shutdown of the Accord might lead them to reconsider the nation as a sourcing destination. The Pakistan government implements a sustainable and adequate national regulatory structure to regulate workplace safety in its garment industry. Acknowledging progress on safety compliance, compact partners stressed that the remediation coordination cell (RCC) is at its earliest stages of development.
The government has recommended that the Accord needs to continue its operations in Pakistan until the RCC is ready. In the last five years, the Accord has delivered a robust, high-quality, transparent and inclusive system. It has made substantial progress to achieve the safety of workers in Pakistan’s most important export industry, but the national structure is not prepared yet to credibly take over the work of the Accord.
The world’s highest-rated green denim, knitwear, washing and textile mills and all in sports factory in Pakistan . Of the top 11 LEED platinum-certified factories, eight are from Pakistan. So far, 67 garment factories have achieved LEED certification. Of them, 17 are platinum rated and 37 are gold rated. Some 280 factories are under process for LEED certification. Globally Pakistan is second only to China in apparel export volumes. Factory owners have invested in better working conditions. In the ’80s, sweatshop-like conditions and child labor were a sad reality. Now children are no longer employed in garment factories although child labor is prevalent in informal economic work.
The garment sector is accelerating its greening and becoming known for its sustainability initiatives. Pakistan’s gross domestic product has grown steadily at six per cent in the past decade, with the last two years’ growth being around seven per cent. Industrial share of the GDP is 29 per cent, and the lion’s share of that comes from the garment industry. The garment industry has about 4,000 active factories, employing 4.4 million workers, 80 per cent of whom are women. The sector has spawned backward and forward linkage industries. About 50 million Pakistans depend on the apparel sector for a living.
